Composition sheet or label.



50 but not cooking. It is desirable to avoid cookmanna canton.

mama Ell. OONGER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

COMPOSITION SHEET 0B LABEL.

Lll lififi d. Specification of Letters Patent.

lilo Drawing.

a label of soluble material to meat carcasses,

said label carrying the label subject printed in reverse on the face which is to contact with the meat so that the ink which is of transfer or copying character, and indelible,

will enter the pores of the meat, properly mark thev same, and show through the coinpound sheet, or ifthis sheet is destroyed or disappears the markings will remain on the meat itself; In carrying out my invention I aim to provide an adhesive label sheet which will unite with the meat by simply pressing it thereon, and will become substantially a homogeneouspartvof the. meatin so far that it can not be removed without destroying its form and the continuity of its body, .thus

reventing the label when once applied from eing removed from one carcass or body and placed on another body of meat. The sheet ofmaterial may be said to be inherently adhesive in that it requires no addition of adhesive paste or other like material either to the meat or' to the label itself.

In carrying out my invention, I employ gelatin as the body of my material, with which is mixed corn starch, glycerin and water, and the quantities of said ingredients are substantiallyin the proportions of six ounces of gelatin, eight ounces of corn starch, six to nine drams of gylcerin, and nine pints of water... In making the mixture I take,-in a cold state, a sufiicient quantity of thewater todissolve the corn starch. I

take the remaining quantity of water and bring it to. the boiling1point, and introduce the gelatinand thoroughly dissolve it, stirring it meanwhile. By this action the gelatin is scalded but not cooked. I then add the dissolved corn starch, this being done while the gelatin solution is ill substantially at-the boiling point of he Water so that scalding of the corn starch is effected,

is next added in its unheated state, and- Emma Dec. 114, 11915.

Application filed December at, 1913. Serial No. 808,557.

while the mixture is still hot and either substantially at the boiling point or after the mixture has slightly cooled. The mixture is now ready to be formed into the required shape for use, for instance like a film or sheet, and I prefer to produce it in a continuous sheet capable of being rolled up like thin paper, though the invention is not limited in this respect.

In delivering the fluid mixture onto the surface upon which it isto set into film or sheet form, the mixture is held in a tank and is agitated periodically to preventprecipitation of any of its ingredients. The mixture is kept Warm and is delivered in this state so that it will be of the proper fluidity, and this delivery takes place upon a cold receiving surface in the form of a thin film whereupon the composition is immediately chilled, and it Will set in exactly the thickness and width in which it is delivered, and after, the setting action has taken place it is stripped from said cooling or setting surface and is in the form of a film or-sheet ready for use, as may be desired. While setting, the material may be subjected to forced drying by an air blast.

Of the above ingredients the. gelatin may be said .to constitute the body of the compound, the corn starch the filler, and the glycerin acts as a preservative and imparts softness to the material.

The material has considerable tensile strength, and when in sheet form will resist to a considerable degree tearing or breaking strains. It is as flexible as thin paper, not brittle, and can be creased or folded without cracking. Being inherently adhesive, as before stated, it may be applied to moist substances by simply pressing it thereon, and

when applied to meat it requires no addimore or less extent and its homogeneity or continuity is broken up by the filler when acted on by the moisture of the meat and these characteristics together with the inherent adhesiveness of the film renders it impossible to remove the film for use again in marking another piece of meat, being thus admirably adapted as a carrier for label subject matter to be impressed on or in the meat without the possibility of a second fra-udulent use. The soluble material seals the pores of the carcass, retains the ink in place, prevents its exudation, and that portion Which is not. dissolved or absorbed remains as a tightlyv fitting flexible protecting covering for the label subject matter Much is rlnted in reverse on the lnner or reverse s1de thereof. Its use provides a I non-detachable, legible mark which will resist a'll ordinary abrasive actions thereon.

Being innocuous .to health, the sheet material ma be used as a wrapper for food products. hecor'n starch 1s mentioned as representative of any starch or like ingredient which may be found suitable for the purpose of p.

' filler, giving bulk or body to the compound at. little expense.

Iclaim as my invention I .1. The hereindescribedfilm for marking meat consisting of a sheet of inherently adhesive, soluble, non-friable material carrying label subject matter printed thereon in transfer ink, said sheet comprising gelatin, glycerin and a filler to break up the continuity of the gelatin and glycerin composition, substantially as described.

2. The hereindescribed film for marking meat consisting of a sheet of inherently ad in presence of tWo Witnesses.

HENRY M. CONGER.

Witnesses:

RALPH H. CASE, A. MCCOY HANSON. 

